The Second Intifada Begins

In September 2000, a new wave of violence erupted.

While the Palestinians saw the Camp David summit as a failure on the part of Israel to make a serious diplomatic move toward them, Israelis regarded the offer made by their negotiators as extremely generous. Barak had proposed creating a Palestinian state in 96 percent of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, dismantling most Israeli settlements, and dividing sovereignty in Jerusalem. The fact that Palestinian leaders dismissed the offer out of hand and that the Palestinian side did not even make a counter-offer--as documented in memoirs by Israeli and American negotiators--and that for many Israelis the Palestinian 'response' appeared to be an armed conflict, has done more to harm the Israeli peace movement than any other event in decades, as many left-leaning Israelis became disillusioned with the peace process.

Ziv Hellman is a Jerusalem-based writer and mathematician. A former editor at the Jerusalem Post, Ziv was a founding member of Peace Watch--the watchdog group reporting on the implementation of the Oslo Agreements. He also led the Israeli elections observer team evaluating the Palestinian Authority elections.